US Bancorp DE Acquires 779 Shares of Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 8.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 10,494 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 779 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $781,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SWX. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Southwest Gas by 1,055.0% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its position in Southwest Gas by 144.0% during the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Southwest Gas by 1,001.8% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 606 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its position in Southwest Gas by 118.3% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its position in Southwest Gas by 194.6% during the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

SWX stock opened at $78.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.25, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 12-month low of $64.69 and a 12-month high of $80.57. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.27.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.11. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 6.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.25 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Gas

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.91, for a total value of $116,865,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 6,032,604 shares in the company, valued at $470,000,177.64. This represents a 19.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SWX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Bank of America raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Zacks Research cut shares of Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Gas currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.33.

About Southwest Gas

Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, distributes and transports natural gas in Arizona, Nevada, and California. The company operates through Natural Gas Distribution, Utility Infrastructure Services, and Pipeline and Storage segments. It also provides trenching, installation, and replacement of underground pipes, as well as maintenance services for energy distribution systems.